Bowties VS Neck Ties
by msbookworm93
Summary: LBD verse. A debate that will go on for the rest of their lives. Why did Darcy only wear neck ties after the rejection? How does Gigi help? And the forever long question? Which is better? Bowties or Neck Ties? Hope you like it :)


**So this kind of just came to me a few weeks ago and I've been working on it for the last few weeks in my spare time. It's definitely longer than I expected it to be, and I kind of went in a totally different direction than originally planned, but I liked writing it **** Hope you like it too. **

**DISCLAIMER! I don't own LBD or Pride and Prejudice. That would be awesome if I did though, it's my favorite!**

**Bowties VS Neck Ties**

Being the CEO of a successful company meant that William Darcy usually didn't dress that casual. He constantly wore slacks, a button up shirt, and a tie.

This time last year, Darcy would always have a bowtie on. He believed that bow ties were a lot cooler than neck ties (and slightly more comfortable than neck ties as well). However, once Darcy had realized that a certain young woman liked to mock him often using a bowtie, he found that he didn't enjoy wearing bowties as often because they would remind him of her.

After their harsh argument he decided that he needed to watch the videos to better understand where she was coming from in her rejection of him. When he had finished, all he could think was that she had been completely justified. He had not been himself last summer and he didn't think that he had come off as arrogant and condescending. Looking back now, he saw himself through Lizzie's eyes.

Now that he had seen how she perceived and reenacted their encounters, he couldn't help but love her more. She was more intelligent that he had originally though, she had a brilliant sense of humor, and she could tell stories in such a fun and exciting way, and so many more traits that made her the woman that William Darcy had fallen in love with. There had only been one thing he hadn't liked that much, and it wasn't even right after he watched her videos that he realized he hadn't liked this revelation. In fact, it took about two weeks after Darcy's last meeting with Lizzie for him to realize that whenever he put a bowtie on the thought of her more than normal. This was when Darcy had decided that he needed to try and move on from Lizzie and try to forget about her and her videos. He just couldn't take the painful reminders that she would never be a permanent part of his life. And with these thoughts running through his mind, Mr. William Darcy started wearing neck ties. Neck ties were slightly more professional, and even better, they had no bad memories with Miss Lizzie Bennet. Lizzie had never seen Darcy in a neck tie, and she probably never would.

When Darcy woke up one Sunday in late December, he started going about his day. He had silently congratulated himself (and would later deny if asked) that he had only thought of a certain girl with auburn hair once the day before, and it was only because he had come across his red bowtie while unpacking from his ski trip with Gigi. Wincing, he had turned away from it and went back over to his suitcase. After Darcy had finished getting ready for his day, he headed to the kitchen to start making breakfast for Gigi and himself.

Darcy, upon entering the kitchen, found Gigi sitting at the table with headphones in, staring intently at her laptop. Since this was a normal occurrence, Darcy thought nothing of it as he started making their crepes. It was about ten minutes later when he was in the middle of flipping a crepe in the air when Gigi squealed loudly, distracting Darcy and causing him to drop the crepe on the floor. "Gigi, unless you can give me a good reason for this sudden outburst, this crepe is yours." He told her loudly, annoyed, and slightly amused bending over to pick up the crepe that was on the floor.

"William! When did you come downstairs?" Gigi asked, shocked and a little embarrassed at being caught.

"About ten minutes ago. Now, tell me, what you were reacting to." Gigi kept quiet looking hesitant and somewhat guilty as well. "Gigi, you can't have an outburst like that and not expect me to react."

"Fine, I'll tell you. But, you'll have to wait until after breakfast, I'm starving." Seeing her brother open his mouth to protest she continued. "William it wasn't just one thing that I saw, it's a bit of a story."

Darcy was suspicious, but finally agreed to his sister's terms when he saw that she wasn't going to budge and hold her ground. "Ugh, okay fine, you win. Though, you still have to eat the crepe that you made me drop."

"I can live with that." Gigi replied, glad that her brother wasn't going to insist on being told at that exact moment and waiting until after breakfast. This gave her a little bit more time to figure out how to tell her brother what she had just found out and everything that she had discovered in the last two days.

During their annual Christmas ski trip, Gigi had cornered her older brother and demanded to know what had happened to him at the end of October when he had gone to visit Aunt Catherine at Collins & Collins. He brother had been very cautious in telling her, but eventually gave in telling her all about Lizzie; how they met, how he fought his feelings, his awful decision to tell her he was in love with her, her reaction, carefully telling her about how George Wickham had lied to Lizzie about past events, and finally he told Gigi about Lizzie's videos. He didn't want to, but felt that if Gigi watched them, she could come up with her own opinion of Lizzie.

So as soon as the Darcy siblings returned to San Francisco, Gigi looked Lizzie Bennet up on Youtube and found 76 videos, well she was in for a good few hours. Since Gigi had already known that Lizzie had been fed lies, she went in with a completely open mind. However, her brother failed to mention that Lizzie had already made up her mind to hate him before the lies had started being told. This made Gigi a bit upset, but as the videos went on, Gigi became more and more engrossed into Lizzie Bennet's life. When she finished the two videos featuring her brother, she didn't know quite what to think. She knew that was what was going to happen, but she didn't quite expect it to be that harsh. But at the same time, she couldn't help but agree with some of the things that Lizzie had said about her brother in some of the episodes, having said worse things to him in the past, but she didn't feel that her brother had deserved to be humiliated like that for thousands of people to see.

After watching her brother's heartbreak, she had decided to stop watching for the night so she could wrap her mind around everything that had happened. Gigi had assumed that Lizzie would address the letter at some point, and she was just as eager to find out what was in it as the rest of the viewers were. While thinking about what her brother had gone through, she had seen what a toll that day had taken on her brother. She now knew why he had started working longer days, why he closed himself off, but also why he had stopped wearing bowties. Gigi liked to think that she knew her brother better than anyone else did, except maybe Fitz (and even that was debatable on who knew him better). William would think of Lizzie every time he wore a newsie hat or bowtie after Halloween, which would explain why they had stopped showing up in his everyday outfits.

After a sleepless night Gigi decided to have an early start and went back to watch the last fourteen episodes that Lizzie had posted. Moving down to the kitchen so she could make some coffee Noticing the time, she didn't think that her brother would be up for another couple of hours so she should have some solitude. She had watched enough of the videos now to know that there was more to that letter than what Lizzie told, and she had a feeling that her brother had trusted Lizzie enough to confide in her about her own past with George, and made a mental note to ask him if it was true. Gigi had to admit that she loved the video of Lydia's birthday. It was really the first time that Lizzie had said something good about her brother, and insulted George.

About 20 minutes later Gigi was finally watching the 76th episode. She liked how Lizzie did show concern for Lydia, even after the major fight they had. Wait, did she say San Francisco? Who knows, maybe she could meet her somehow; she would really like to meet Lizzie in person. She then squealed super loud when Lizzie announced that she was going to be shadowing Pemberly Digital. And that is what brought her to the notification that her brother was actually in the room.

When breakfast was over, William looked at Gigi expectedly. "Care to share what had you squealing like a little girl now?" He then asked after a few minutes of silence.

"It was about me wasn't it?" She asked him, asking the question she had made note to ask. She got a look of confusion from her brother as if that was not what he was expecting.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Letter."

"You watched the videos didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. And the letter you gave her, it was about me wasn't it." The look of guilt and silence answered the question. "It's okay, William. I just wish that you had told me earlier."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Now, it's time for the next question."

"Another question? Are you ever going to tell me why you were squealing?" He asked his sister, impatiently.

"Yes, but in a minute. Now, be honest. You stopped wearing bowties because of her didn't you?"

"W-what makes you think that?" Darcy looked startled at this question.

"William, I know you better than anyone, plus it doesn't take an idiot to figure it out. You stopped wearing bowties at the beginning of November and get a pained and sad look on your face whenever you look at the bowties you have in your closet. You think of her whenever you put one on and it hurts to think of her." Once again, his silence answered for him.

"William, I know it's hard, but I think things are going to be getting better soon." Gigi told him, starting to get to what he really wants to know.

Confusing covered his face at that statement. "What makes you think that?" He asked.

"Have you watched any of her videos since you left Collins & Collins?"

"Only one, to find out if she had actually read the letter, and to find out if she would keep the confidences I had asked her to keep. Once I found out that she had, I decided that I needed to stop thinking of her and stop watching her videos, I'm never going to get another chance with her so why put myself through the pain of watching her." He continued to explain. "I love her so much more now than I did then, but it's all in vain because I know that our paths may never cross again and I refuse to let my hopes up that she may someday feel the same way about me." By the time he finished explaining to her he had trouble talking, trying not to let his emotions get to him.

"I have to show you something." Gigi then pulled her laptop over to where they were sitting and showed her brother episodes 68, 72, and 76.

After watching the last one he sat in stunned silence for a few minutes and then he quietly asked "She doesn't hate me?"

"It doesn't look like it, but is that seriously all you got from that?" Gigi asked in an exasperated tone. "William, she's coming to Pemberly! This could be your chance to show her that you've changed, or rather that the William Darcy she saw at Netherfield and Collins & Collins is not the normal William Darcy. Plus, she is going to be in a place where she sees you at your best, at work. You'll be in your element."

"I don't know Gigi. I'm sure that she'll want to avoid me like the plague. Our last encounter was not exactly pleasing to either one of us."

"Just at least promise me that you won't avoid her and that you'll try and show her the real you."

"Fine, I promise."

"Thanks! Oh and William?" she paused and looked at him to wait for a sign to continue. "Please keep wearing the neck ties, let her see this new side of you as well; the one who has been working to become someone that Lizzie Bennet can fall in love with. That means, no bowties because it could remind her of the past, and we don't want that." William Darcy didn't exactly understand what Gigi meant by that, but he had already planned on not wearing bowties around Lizzie ever again.

William Darcy wasn't avoiding the first meeting with Lizzie, but he wasn't going out of his way to see her again either. He knew that things were going to be awkward, and was not anticipating that it would get easier as time went on. However, when Gigi locked Lizzie and him in a room, he tried his hardest to make things the least amount of awkward as it could be with the two of them. But, one good thing did come out of it. She touched his arm…willingly. He was wearing a neck tie, and it was his first happy memory with Lizzie and neck ties. He would definitely wear neck ties more often.

In all of Lizzie Bennet's time at Pemberly Digital, she only saw Darcy in a bowtie once, and that was during their costume theatre. He had done it in the hope that he could show her that he really was a different person than the guy she met the last summer. It seemed to work too, because after that day, things between them had changed. It was easier for them to be around each other after that.

The next time Darcy sees Lizzie after her time at Pemberly quickly becomes one of his favorite days of his life. The day that Mr. William Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet enter into a relationship. He's wearing a neck tie of course, and after their kiss, she starts playing with it while they cleared up any more confusion between them.

Darcy then felt like he could wear bowties again and honestly he was pretty excited about it. He missed wearing bowties, he still thought that bowties were cool and should be worn regularly. And now that the pain that was once there while wearing them was gone, he could wear them as often as he liked.

This brought Darcy to where he was today. He was now in a committed relationship with Lizzie and they were currently in a debate about which was better; neck ties or bowties. Darcy was taking the side of bowties and Lizzie was taking the neck ties side. "Why are bowties better Will?"

"Because they are cool! They are so much more youthful and fun than neck ties. Yes, neck ties are a little bit more professional, but they are boring. They also get in the way because they hang down and never stay in place. I have to constantly make sure it's sitting where it's supposed to." He argued.

"But, neck ties can have some really awesome designs. Bowties have few designs. Plus, they are so small and annoying to tie." Lizzie countered back.

"Not as annoying as neck ties. Besides, bowties are more James Bond than neck ties."

"When have you ever cared about acting like James Bond?"

"Now?"

"Nice try. What else do bowties have going for them?"

"They make you laugh when I wear a newsie cap with one." He told her bluntly.

This comment caught Lizzie off guard and she smiled, realizing that this could lead perfectly up to her best arguing point. "That's true they do." She paused, watching Will's reaction to her statement. He looked like he thought he was about to win their argument. "However, neck ties have something going for them."

"Yeah? And what would that be?" Will asked as he watched Lizzie walk closer to him.

"When you are wearing a neck tie, it's incredibly sexy and it's so easy to grab it and pull you down for a kiss. I can't do that with a bowtie." She told him and she then demonstrated, since it happened to be a day when he wore a neck tie.

After some time had passed they broke apart. "That-that is a very good and valid point there, but I'm still going with the thought that bowties are a lot cooler." He smirked as she kissed him again signifying the end of their debate for the day.

Bowties or neck ties, it's a debate that they would have for the rest of their lives. Some days Lizzie would concede and others William would concede. One thing was for sure though; on their wedding day he was definitely going to wear a neck tie, just for her. He told her that he would wear a bowtie, because for a tux, that is what needed to be worn, but it was a secret wedding present for her to wear a neck tie for her. The smile on her face when she realized what he had done was one to light up a room and for William Darcy, which was the only thing that truly mattered.

**AN: So this was basically 2000 words longer than I thought it would be. But I hope you liked it. Part of me thinks that the scene with Gigi wasn't really needed, but I liked it too much to get rid of it. Plus I think that was the easiest part for me to write. Anyway, leave a review, tell me what you think. I have ideas for other LBD stories, I'm working on a multi-chapter fanfic right now, but I'm stuck on that. Also, I just got an idea for one that is still in its brainstorming phase, so I may or may not get that one up in the near future. **

**THANKS FOR READING! :D**


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